Although the ribbon was cut Monday to mark the official arrival of the new 2.4 million dollar CT scanner at St. Paul’s Hospital, the machine has already been in constant use.

Saskatchewan Health Authority figures indicate over 39-thousand patients a year get scanned on the four machines throughout Saskatoon, an increase of close to 50-percent in the last 12 years.

The Authority’s Director of Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine says improving technology has expanded the capabilities of CT scanners to the point where there are very few hospital patients who don’t get scanned.

Shane Timm also says there is no comparison between the quality and speed of the new scanner and the 14-year-old machine it replaced.

The St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation raised 1.2 million dollars for the new scanner.